Ubuntu 18.04 End of Life
Extended Lifecycle Support

No. That’s because in the Ubuntu release cycle every Ubuntu LTS release has a fixed support window that lasts for five years.

In the case of Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, the free support window ended in June 2023 when Ubuntu users stopped receiving patches for critical security vulnerabilities – unless they chose to pay for Ubuntu Pro, which comes at a substantial cost. For many users, this essentially means Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver machines reached end of life in June 2023.

If you’re using Ubuntu 18.04, you need to upgrade to Ubuntu release 20.04 LTS or another distribution as soon as you can to receive security support. To keep your systems secure in the meantime, consider using TuxCare’s Extended Lifecycle Support for Ubuntu 18.04, which will give you the time you need to upgrade to Ubuntu 20.04.

After June 2023, any Ubuntu 18.04 machines not switched to a newer version of Ubuntu will lose free support from the Ubuntu team. Servers using Ubuntu 18.04 will continue to work, but the Linux kernel will be vulnerable to threats that emerge after 31 May 2023 because there are no ongoing security updates.

With no vendor security updates forthcoming after 31 May 2023, it’s critical that Ubuntu 18.04 users migrate – or find a partner to extend support until they’re ready to migrate.

Ubuntu Pro is one of the alternatives, but the price is relatively high, which is not ideal if all you need is patching. TuxCare offers Extended Lifecycle Support that is much more affordable than Ubuntu Pro.

Ubuntu 20.04 LTS released on April 23, 2020, which is called Focal Fossa, and still has several years of ongoing support left with free standard support security updates through April 2025. You have the option to pay for Ubuntu Pro extended security maintenance through 2030. However, in 2024, you should start planning for a migration for when the next LTS version is released, so that you’re not forced to migrate in a rush.

Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS Bionic Beaver was released on April 26, 2018, in line with the usual Ubuntu release schedule. At release, Ubuntu’s standard support started and continued to receive security updates for Bionic Beaver right through June 2023.

The next LTS versions of Ubuntu, Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa and Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish, were released on April 23, 2020 and April 21, 2022 respectively.

The Ubuntu release schedule dictates that Ubuntu releases a new long-term support (LTS) release every two years. For example, Bionic Beaver was preceded by Ubuntu 16.04 Xenial Xerus in 2016, and before that came Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr, which was released in 2014.

There are also regular Ubuntu interim releases, but these don’t enjoy the full five years of free support given to LTS versions. Only the LTS versions in the release cycle, such as Bionic Beaver, Focal Fossa, and Jammy Jellyfish, get Ubuntu’s standard support – while interim releases only enjoy nine months of support.

For example, while Ubuntu 21.10 (Impish Indri), Ubuntu 21.04 (Hirsute Hippo), and Ubuntu 20.10 (Groovy Gorilla) are all production-quality releases, the fact that they’re interim releases and only include a limited support window means that Impish Indri, Hirsute Hippo, and Groovy Gorilla are not fit for enterprise use.